Spanish Government blames Catalan and Basque nationalisms for the lack of foreign investment and job creation

Barcelona (ACN).- The Spanish Government’s Deputy Prime Minister and Spokesperson, Soraya Saénz de Sanatamaría, said this Friday in a press conference that Catalan and Basque nationalisms “promote a climate of instability in our country that keeps investment and employment away” and they “create mistrust and insecurity”. The same week Basque elections have been announced for next October, Saénz de Santamaría indirectly accused the Catalan and Basque nationalisms for “distracting attention from the important debate” and asked for “responsibility and stability” considering the current economic times. A few hours later, the ‘number two’ of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU), Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, replied accusing the Spanish Government as responsible for the “mistrust and insecurity” affecting Spain, because of its internal “discrepancies” and the “absenteeism” of the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. According to Duran, Saénz de Santamaria “looks at the speck of sawdust in her neighbour’s eye and pays no attention to the plank in her own eye”. Duran blamed the Spanish Government for not having put in place an action plan to combat unemployment, “despite having the tools to do so”. According to the last Active Population Survey, unemployment decreased in Catalonia and the Basque Country and increased in the whole of Spain. At the end of June, Catalonia and the Basque Country had an unemployment rate of 20.9% and 15.3% respectively, while overall Spanish unemployment was set at 24.6%.

When the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister was asked by a journalist about the increasing calls for independence in Catalonia, Sáenz de Santamaría, from the People’s Party (PP), emphasised the need to move in the same direction and “not look for new elements of confrontation”. Sáenz de Santamaría, who said on Tuesday that she was “very worried about a [hypothetical] victory of the Basque independence party” the same day Basque elections had been called for next October, accused Catalan and Basque Nationalism of creating “mistrust and instability”. “How can we tell people to trust Spain, to invest in Spain, to create jobs if some people are promoting a climate of instability in our country that keeps investment and employment away, and creates mistrust and insecurity?”, she questioned. “We [should be] talking about food, about real things, about employment”, emphasised the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, and not “distracting” people, referring to the Catalan demands for a fairer revenue redistribution, reducing Catalonia’s solidarity contribution to the rest of Spain, which accounts for 8.5% the Catalan GDP .

The number two of the main Catalan Nationalist coalition, running the Catalan Government, blamed the Spanish Government’s internal discrepancies as the main cause for the mistrust. “Does what Montoro [Spanish Finance Minister] says build trust? Or his discrepancies with De Guindos [Spanish Minister for the Economy]? Or the quarrels with Soraya [Sáenz de Santamaría]? Or the absenteeism of Rajoy [Spain’s Prime Minister]?” said Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida. “She looks at the speck of sawdust in her neighbour’s eye and pays no attention to the plank in her own eye”, emphasised Duran. He also added: “How cheeky!” accusing the Spanish Government of not developing an action plan to fight unemployment “despite having the tools to do so”.

Sáenz de Santamaria accused the Basque and Catalan nationalisms of not focusing on creating jobs and distracting public attention from this debate and “looking for new elements of confrontation”. She said so despite the fact that the Basque Country and Catalonia have unemployment rates below the Spanish average. Her comments were also made the day after the Spanish Public TV Broadcaster (RTVE) announced it will broadcast bullfights again, after 6 years of not doing so. RTVE said it would broadcast the “national party” of bullfights as “every Spanish citizen should have access to them”. The Spanish Government, run by the PP, has completely changed the managing structure of RTVE since it took power eight months ago.